princessa_2004's married bio
Please credit our amazing photographer Andy Kitchen Photography if you borrow any pictures!
Scroll down for Vendor Reviews.
Getting Ready
Our photographer had taken the photo on the cover.
He got a kick out of the fact that I was doing the same hair style!
DH doing some last minute 'quality control' at the country club.
I'm a flip flop girl!
My dress!
It still had the tags on!
My wonderful bridesmaids!
I made name tags at work the week before. It definitely helped the photographer learn who everyone was!
Traditional last post as a single girl!
Garter, my something blue. My beautiful shoes!
It's hard to get ready with a camera in your face!
My dress came with a white bow to go around the dress.
I had not decided if I wanted to wear the white bow, my green sash, or nothing at all, until right then!
The girls had no idea where the garter went!
My something old: My mom's faux pearl necklace she wore on her wedding day.
My something borrowed: A ring my sister had that said "Love" all the way around (Not pictured :( )
My somthing new: Dress, shoes, earrings, tiara, veil... you pick!
My mom helping with my veil.
My mom got ready in this room when her and my dad got married.
I got a kick out of the fact that it said Father on the little tag!
Mom's corsage
My Beautiful Bouquet!
Maid of Honor Bridesmaid
Mom Sister (MOH) and Cousin
Sister and her boyfriend
Primping the flower girls!
My niece with her pompadour (Michaels- "Kissing Ball" $5 at most) .
The nieces/flowergirls
Always have a change of shoes!
Gift from the groom!
I wonder what it could be...
We're going to Hawaii! ( And it sang which is why I'm laughing so hard)
"This goes behind your right ear now!" "You get an iPhone when we get back!"
Nephew/Ring bearer/Ring Security
Lego Cuff links, DH loved legos as a kid.
Groomsman's Gifts- Personalized Leathermans
The Ceremony
The aisle
At the end of the aisle
Card Basket Shutterfly Guestbook- The guests loved it!
DH's sister, brother, and nephew. DH's step grandfather
Bride's father
It's almost time!
Our programs I slaved over!
Yes, that's the "Ring Pillow"!
I started crying! My wonderful bridesmaids were able to calm me down!
My mother
My uncle served as our officiant. It was great because it added such a personal touch.
He even shared a story from my childhood which was so special.
Vows
We both wrote our own vows for eachother.
DH had memorised his, but I had to read mine! I was crying so hard!
I highly reccomend writng your vows. It was so difficult for me to do, but I wouldn't trade our vows for anything.
Ring Exchange
Sand Ceremony
Bride Groom
When we first told people we were doing a sand ceremony they looked at us like we were crazy.
I love that we have something tangible to keep from our ceremony.
The Kiss
The recessional music started playing during our kiss...
So DH went in for another one!
And evryone started laughing!
The new Mr. & Mrs!
All I wanted to do was hug him!
Formal Family Pictures
My feet were dying! I never wear heals!
Bridal Party Pictures
We all drove to a near by park to take outdoor pictures. On the way one of our groomsmen got pulled over for squeeling his wheels. The cop pulled him over into the park's parking lot, with all the cameras and the rest of the bridal party staring at him. Long story short, he got let off!
We have our initals carved into this tree at the park. It's impossible to see, but it was special to us!
I bought all the girls parasols in China Town.
I had had my eye on mine for over a year! And they still had it!
Bride & Groom
When the photographer asks you to switch which hand your bouqet is is...
make sure you know where your new husband's head is!
Disclaimer: Before you view the next photos I need you to understand one thing.
I'm an outdoorsy girl.
I work with kids.
I have no fear of climbing trees.
I have no fear of climbing trees in my wedding dress on my wedding day.
Understand?
Ok.
Proceed.
DH's shoes had no traction what-so-ever. Our photographer had to help him into the tree.
Hence the socks in the right picture.
The easiest way down is to run!
I love my car! I'm so glad we saved the money, got my car detailed, and drove it!
Reception
DH had not opened his present before the ceremony.
He thought our videographer or photographer were going to come to film him open it! Oops!
Oakmont Country Club
Placecard trees!
Our guests had fun with these!
We collected pictures of our family from either their wedding day, or just a picture of them as a couple.
Our beautiful cake!
Groom's Cake
DH LOVES carrot cake. I couldn't imagine cutting into a carrot cake, so we agreed on a Groom's Cake!
Our candy buffet was a huge hit! We barely had anything left!
We used our favorite engagement for our table numbers. Some guests asked if they could keep them!
Bridal Party Introductions
First Dance
We've been taking swing lessons for about a year, so 2 minutes into our slow song, we sped it up!
1st song: "You're the Inspiration" by Chicago
2nd song: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Micheal Buble
Toasts 
The Best Man and Maid of Honor did amazing jobs on their speeches.
My sister almost made me cry!
My uncle prayed for the meal.
After eating (and yes, we ate! I didn't want to starve!) We went and greeted all our guests.
We also reminded them about our Flickr site since we really wanted to see their pictures!
I had made the kids at the wedding little buckets full of goodies.
Everything was bought at the dollar section at Target!
Our nieces and neighbor
(And no, the neighbor was not in the bridal party! She bought that dress just for the wedding. How sweet is that!)
Father/Daughter Dance
Song: "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle
Dollar Dance
To anyone debating whether or not to do a dollar dance, I say DO IT!
I had such a blast getting to dance with our guests, and some saw this as an opportuinty to gift us even more.
DH found a $100 bill in his pocket!
I had a warped idea that inviting young guests would get the dance floor hopping. Was I wrong!
Our most amazing guests were the older crowd!
Cake Cutting
Make sure you have something to cut the cake with! We assumed that the country club would provide us something to cut the cake with. Our photographer ended up having to get someone to find us something to cut the cake with!
But the cake was still yummy!
Bouquet Toss
This is honestly my favorite picture from the wedding! Uploaded by a guest via Flickr.
Garter Toss
Off to Hawaii
DH had gotten us both leis to wear out of the reception!
Vendor Reviews
Location
Ceremony: First Baptist Church La Crescenta
I grew up in this church so it's impossible for me to give it a bad review, not that it would have gotten one!
Tyla, the wedding coordinator, always wants to make you happy and is willing to go out of her way for you. Even when the church's sound guy goes on vacation at the last minute, she went out of her way to find us someone who knew how to work a sound board. When we asked for the typical eye sores that fill the stage to be removed, they all were. They even let us put petals straight onto the carpet.
Reception: Oakmont Country Club, Glendale
Not Recommended
Oakmont was one of the first vendors we booked. One of my bridesmaid's mom was the catering director for the club and I felt safe leaving my reception in her hands. I had in my mind the way I wanted the room set up, dance floor in the middle with the head table looking out at the dance floor, the way I've seen it at almost every wedding I've been to. Somehow no one in the club had ever set the room up that way. They wanted me to "think about it", which I had. Then we wanted no alcohol. Like none, at all. Not even if someone asked and paid for it. NO! They argued that. They wanted me to "think about it", even though I had my mind made up. Then my friend's mom quits due to her crazy boss. No one at the club informed us of this. Our sponser called my mom and let her know, not the way we wanted to find out. When I finally spoke to her she assured me that she had spoken to everyone involved and theatened physical pain to anyone who didn't make my day perfect. We ended up working with her assistant who was competant, but could not make any big decisions on her own, which was fustrating. And she would not be working the day of the wedding. We had tons of things that we were bringing that needed to be set up by the club. We provided very detailed instructions on how everything would need to be set up. We dicussed everything with her, and she said she would pass the message along. The day of the wedding DH went down in the morning to do some "quality control". Almost everything was in the wrong place and he had to reinstruct the staff of where and how to put things. Before the reception started my mother had to go in and also do some "quality control". Tables had the wrong amount of chairs, h'orderves were not given to the bridal party as promised, the air conditioning was not turned on in the bridal party waiting room, and the box labeled "Place at table 1" had been opened and the bubbles inside had been placed at every seat (110 guests, 75 bubbles... I'm still baffled). Even during the reception alchohol was served to a few guests who requested it, when we had spoken many times about the subject. They were extremly fustrating to deal with and do not recommend them to any future brides.
Music
DJ- Marty Avila
Recommended
Marty was highly recommended to us by Oakmont Country Club. He does alot of events for them and so he knows the club and their rules. I had been to a few events the he had DJ'd before and so I trusted him to do a good job. We had trouble getting in touch with him at first, due to the fact that typically the club hires him. Once we got in contact he was great to work with and understood exactly what we wanted from him. He was willing to change any timing, or songs on a moments notice. Since we were putting together our own song for our first dance, and we didn't have it finished at our last meeting before the wedding, he was fine with receiving the CD minutes before it needed to be played. He did a great job and was completely professional.
Flowers
Highly Recommended
After going to about 20 other florists and being completely disappointed in every single on of them, it was a breath of fresh air to meet with Kathy from CV Flower Mart. She completely understood all of our ideas and made great suggestions. We were able to come to her and change our minds 100 times, even up to a few weeks before, and was able to work everything we wanted into our tight budget. On the day of the wedding, she was even able to provide us a last minute boutonniere when we had forgotten to order it. The bouquets looked exactly like the photos I had provided her with. For the centerpieces we had only asked for her to place a daisy on the mirror we provided, stem and all, and they took the time to cut the stems off and place them beautifully on the lanterns. This impressed me due to the fact that I had struggled on how to make this work for months, and they came up with a better idea on the day of. I thought they did such an amazing job that I plan on using them for my "regular" flower needs.
Photography
Highly Highly Recommended
We knew Andy since his son was a student in DH's class. We looked around for other photographer's and landed back on him. His package included a E-pic shoot, 10 hours of coverage, a print from the E-pic shoot, and a book. I really wanted to make our book myself and he was completely willing to switch out the book for all the digital negatives at no extra cost. For the E-pic shoot he was willing to tote a red couch/chair 45 minutes up a mountain just for us. Since he knew we wanted to make a photo guest book with our e-pic's he got them to us within 2 weeks. Since his son was in DH's class he was there for a shower the kids threw for us. He even took the time to get us those photos before the big day. Being the wonderful photographer he is, he even offered to come to the rehersal and get photos, but since our rehersal was on 8/8/08, he had another wedding to be at. On the wedding day he showed up a few hours before his contracted time to get photos of us getting ready. He made everyone in the wedding party at ease by cracking jokes all day. Even my BM that hates having her picture taken (apperently) got a good amount of good pictures between her freak outs. His assistant Shannon was very sweet and also did a wonderful job. We even bumped into Andy and his family on our HM! We knew they would be in Maui with us, but we had no idea we'd bump into them. He even took a few pictures of us there and gave them to us with our wedding photos. After we both got back from our vacations, it was only a few weeks before he got our pictures up online, and then only 2 days until he gave us our disk with all the pictures (Color & B&W of all pics). I was extremely pleased with all the pictures and I can't wait to do a TTD with him.
Videography
Recommended
Hireing someone to video our wedding was a last minute decision. With only a few weeks to go we hired Kevin. All we wanted was someone to video the ceremony and reception and hand us the raw footage. This is exactly what Kevin gave us. For $300 he gave us 10 hours of footage, we just had to provide him the tapes. He did a good job with only a few very minor disapointments. During the ceremony he could not be on stage, due to church rules, and so he set up a camera on the stage. He did test the spot multiple times before the ceremony started to make sure he had the right angle. Unfortunetly that tape gave us a shot of my sisters back and my face. DH got cut out of the shot almost completely. We do have 2 other angles of the ceremony so it is not a huge deal, just a slight disapointment. Also, during our first dance he was very close to us so it was difficult for the photographers to get good shots of just us. We still came out with good footage so I don't have to much to complain about!
Cake
Highly Recommended
We were impressed by Takes the Cake the second we walked in the door. The cakes in their case were amazing and the lady's in the shop were beyond sweet. The cakes also taste amazing to top it all off. The wedding cake turned out exactly how we wanted and the groom's cake is exactly like the picture we provided them with. As far as I know the cakes were delivered on time and without a hitch. I will definetly be going back to get more cakes made by them.
Hair
J&J's Uppercuts
Once again, this is someone that I couldn't give a bad review if I tried! Jeanne is one of my mother's best friends and she did my hair on the day of. We did multiple trials for a few different ideas, and each time she almost refused to let us pay her anything. On the wedding day she refused to let me pay. The tiara started falling out by the time I got home from the salon, and one of the curls fell, but I still thought she did a great job.
Makeup
DIY
I have a problem.... I can't imagine letting someone else do my makeup for my wedding day. Professional or not. Makeup doesn't like to stay on my face. I don't know where it goes, but it isn't on my face. I decided that instead of hiring someone, I'd just invest in some great makeup that would stay on all day. So now onto what was on my face:
Fresh Face Primer- Recommended
It's very light and , well, fresh feeling! Definetly helped to keep my makeup on all day!
Maybelline pure. makeup in Natural Ivory- Highly Recommended
This is what I wear every day. For those with acne this makeup was a lifesaver! Since it's oil free and 50% water it doesn't clog your pores, and it's light so it doesn't look like you just painted your face a new color. It comes in a tiny bottle but lasts a long time.
Cover Girl TRUblend minerals Translucent Light Loose Mineral Powder- Recommended
It's a little hard to get just the right amount of powder out of the bottom, but it works well anyways!
L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Blush in Bare Honey- Recommended
For someone who never wear blush, I loved this one. It's light enough to just give a int of color without making me look like a clown.
Make Up For Ever HD High Definition Powder- Recommended
This powder helped keep me photo ready all day. I wasn't shiny all day! 
Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil- Recommended
It stayed on all day, even through the crying!
Make Up For Ever Eye Seal Waterproof Liquid Converter- Highly Recommended
Makeup never stays on my eyes, so this eye seal really helped keep it in place. The directions say to put it over your makeup but I found it smeared all the eyeshadow I had just put on. I like putting it on first and then putting my eye shadow over it. It works!
Maybelline Expert Wear Eye Shadow in Designer Chocolates- Recommended
For someone like me who can't coordinate eye shadow colors these sets are a life saver.
Make Up For Ever Diamond Shadow Number 312- Recommended
This color was great as dramatic accent to the Designer Chocolates collection.
Maybelline Intense XXL Volume + Length Microfiber Mascara- Recommended
It stayed on all day even through the tears! In fact it's a little hard to get off even with makeup remover!
Jewelry
Rings
Highly Recommended
We bought all 3 rings from Robins Brothers. The sales people there were ridiculously nice and helpful and never pressured us into buying anything. When I needed my ring re-sized they did it every time I came in (It took a few tries to get it right, I have big knuckles and tiny fingers!). I would recomend them to an bride, or future groom, looking for their rings.
Bride's Jewelry
Earrings- Macy's - Reccommended
I searched forever for earrings that I liked. I was trying to keep the sparkle of the tiara and the perals from the necklce in mind. I finally found this pair that had both!
Tiara- David's Bridal- Reccommended
The head piece had to ordered, but it came within a few weeks. The tiara was great since the comb on it could be ajusted.
Garter
David's Bridal- Reccommended
I liked that the garter matched my bridesmaids dresses. It was also nice just to walk into the store and pick this up. For $24 it was on the pricey side, but the conveniece made up for it. Also it was a tad tight on my small legs. I took it off right after the ceremony and put it back right before the toss.
Attire
Bride
Recommended
I honestly didn't care what designer made my dress, so David's Bridal was a great option for me. I wasn't into beading/bling/embroidery/lace so this dress was perfect. The girl I dealt with at the Burbank location was a little scatterbrained but helped start the dress search off nicely. The second location I went to was the Monrovia store. The girl there was more knowledgeable and helped me pick out my dress. I bought it during the $99 sale (which never seemed to end...) so it was around $300. I liked that I could take it with me the same day I bought it. I also had alterations done through David's Bridal. All I needed was a hem so I trusted them. The first lady I dealt with was a little fustrating. While pinning the dress up I noticed that one of the pick-ups was still longer then the others. When I pointed it out to her she claimed that when they sewed it it would be the same. When I came back to pick it up, the pick-up was still longer then the others. The lady that was there that time pinned it up the way it should be and we got it back a week later.
Shoes
Recommended
I never wear heals. I wanted to for my wedding day, so I needed to find something short and comfortable. I loved these shoes the moment I set eyes on them. They are very "bridal" with some understated sparkle. The front was wide enough so it didn't squeeze my toes, and the height was just right so I didn't sprain my ankle. But since I never wear heels I took them off after the ceremony, put them back on for our first dance, then opted for flats for the rest of the night.
Bridesmaid
Recommended
I love love love this dress. Trying to find a dress that fits everyone perfectly is really hard, but this one did! When my sister tried it on I knew it was the one and haven't looked back since. The stores did not carry this dress in Clover so they had to be ordered. The stores told us it would be 12 weeks, but they arrived at least a month before that deadline for all the girls (They live all over SoCal and one in Michigan and they all ordered at about the same time). The only problem with the dress seemed to be that 2 dresses (both size 6) came in slightly to small. They were not small enough to be the wrong size (I tried it on and it was falling off even though it's only one size bigger then my dress), just slightly smaller.
Flowergirls
Dress Town
Highly Recommended
Well since my flowergirls were a little older then most, finding reasonably priced dresses for them was a pain. After searching and searching for dresses for these girls, I finally found Dress Town. Dress Town is a little store in the Eagle Rock Plaza that only sells dresses... obviously. Dress Town sold every dress in a certain style for the same price. Each dress only cost $45.
Groom & Groomsmen
Recommended
I really liked that MW Tux has the coordinating colors for David's Bridal. The service was friendly every time I went.
Groom's Cufflinks
Highly Recommended
I bought these cufflinks as an anniversary present for DH. He saw them in The Knot magazine and thought they were funny. I serched ETSY and found this seller. They are real Legos with the cufflink part attached to the hole in the bottom of the Lego. Everyone loved them!
Stationary
Pocketfolds
Recommended
Besides DIY, Cards & Pockets has the cheapest pocketfolds around. When I originally ordered a sample pocketfold of a color that was being discontinued, they were nice enough to send me color swatches off all the other greens. When I ordered my Pine colored Retangolo pocketfolder's they sent me Signature pocketfolders. The difference is that the Signature pocket faces up, while the Retangolo faces left. I needed Retangolo in order to avoid useing envelopes. We had a difficult time getting ahold of anyone at Cards & Pockets because they have no phone number, and after a week of unanswered emails we threatened to stop payment, we got a response back. We sent the old pockets back and they sent us the correct ones. They were going to refund shipping, but I have yet to see that check. The main reason I am still recommending them is that their prices are just plain better then anyone elses. Even with my $8.75 missing they were still a better price.
Guestbook
12x12 Shutterfly Photo Book
Highly Recommended
I've always hated the idea of a traditional guestbook. When I got a coupon for a free 12x12 photo book from Shutterfly (David's Bridal coupon book) , I knew I should give it a try. I'm extremely glad I did. The quality of the pictures and the book were amazing. The online software is extremely easy to use. I recieved the book very quickly, even before the shipping date they gave me (this seems to be the trend with oher books I have purchased through them). After showing our book to my family they loved it so much that they started making books for themselves!
Flickr
We asked all our guests to upload their pictures to our Flickr site after the wedding. We paid for the pro account, and the $24.99 is totally worth it. I got a few of my favorite pictures from the ones the guests shared with us. Here's what the cards we gave the guests said:
"If you captured some photos on your digital camera, we would love if you could share them with us!
Just follow these steps to upload your photos.
1. Visit www.FLICKR.com and sign in
Yahoo!ID: XXX
Password: XXX
2. Click on "Upload Photos" to upload photos individually or look for "Uploading Tools" to upload multiple photos.
3. To just view the pictures go to www.FLICKR.com/photos/XXX"
After the wedding we uploaded pro pics to the site so people could download them, and sent everyone a business card in their thank you card reminding them about the flickr site. We added a step at the end telling them how to download the pictures: If you see a photo you like, click on the photo, click on "All Sizes", then select which size you would like to download.
Gifts
www.all-leatherman-tools-4-less.com
Highly Recommended
Even after forgetting to add what we wanted written on each leatherman in the comment section of our order, we were able to email them and have it corrected right away. They sent them quick and the quality of the engraving was good.
Highly Recommended
Juelladesigns was great to work with. She did a custom letter and crystal necklace for each of my girls (and me!) and I loved how they turned out.
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